Commentating was the best seat in the house but I am retiring after 26 years
Commentating was the best seat in the house but I am retiring after 26 years
Brian MooreMon, May 11, 2026 at 5:02 AM UTC
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Brian Moore has become a familiar voice for rugby fans over the last three decades
This week I will be co-commentating on the Grand Slam-deciding game between France and England in the finale to this year’s Women’s Six Nations. And after roughly 26 years behind the microphone, I have decided it will be my last broadcast.
There are other things coming up which I will be able to divulge next month but for now I want to take a brief look back at a career that has been a privilege and which will leave many moments of enduring satisfaction.
It can never hurt to start a co-commentary career alongside a genius and so it was when I tentatively slid into the seat next to the legendary Bill McLaren for my first appearance. I was thrilled and anxious in equal measure because Bill had been the voice of rugby through my formative years. I can still remember the first time his distinctive Scottish brogue said my name as a new cap against his beloved Scotland in 1987. It was a signal that I had arrived on the international scene and a strange sort of validation of being capped for my country.
Bill McLaren, pictured in 1999, offered Moore guidance during his early days as a co-commentator - David Rogers/Getty Images
Bill didn’t dictate the terms of the commentary relationship and trusted me to find my way with gentle nudges during the broadcast which I only later realised were such. His comforting words after that experience were few but telling, “Well done, you didn’t repeat anything I said or describe what I could see for myself.” That short observation summed up the job of the “colour” commentator – to explain what and why things happen, using playing experience that most viewers do not have.
I do not think Bill would have liked the way in which commentary in general has developed because he was always keen to highlight the best efforts of players and refused to criticise errors trenchantly, whether they came from players or officials. Today’s commentary world requires a harder view of performances and that is probably right for an era when players and officials are professional while their audience is entertained by their amateur efforts.
I have been extraordinarily lucky to have worked with some of the best commentators in the business. My long-time partnership with the late Eddie Butler was a relationship which affected me more personally than I ever imagined when it began. Through Eddie’s passion I got an insight into the preternatural and emotional world of Welsh rugby fandom, that could in turns be savage and destructive but also effusive and communal in a way that few outside the country can appreciate. The sight of three middle-aged Welsh fans in tears behind me in Cardiff for their first Grand Slam win of three under Warren Gatland (2008) brought home to me the depth to which rugby was woven into the soul of Welsh fans.
Moore formed a strong partnership in the commentary box with former Wales captain Eddie Butler (above and below)
Matthew Impey/Shutterstock
Of course, I made mistakes and not everybody rated my efforts positively. I think it took me about a decade to persuade most Celtic fans that I was not irredeemably biased towards England, but I eventually gave up trying to gauge this issue when the BBC complaints log against me for a Calcutta Cup game had equal complaints of bias from both Scottish and English fans. You have to accept that some people will not like anything you say and much though I yearned to protest about it, everybody is entitled to their opinion.
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That freedom of expression should however come with some boundaries in a civil society, which I accept is probably impossible. The last 15 years of this career have been against the background of social media and the ability for anybody to post virtually anything they want in public. Libel and public disorder offences cover the internet in extremis, but I do not accept that personal abuse comes with the job and broadcasters should support their commentators when this happens.
Nothing replaces the thrill of playing but commentating meant that I was lucky enough to witness and comment on extraordinary careers or many of the world’s best players. Martin Johnson, Jonny Wilkinson, Richie McCaw and Brian O’Driscoll to name but a few. Added to this I have had the honour of being a small part of culturally enriching moments of Six Nations tournaments, especially Grand Slams.
Martin Johnson (left) and Jonny Wilkinson stand out among the players Moore has commented on - David Rogers/Getty Images
There are too many notable games to list properly but I will never forget the spine-tingling experience of commentating at the first game to be played at Croke Park, Ireland, in 2007, with all the political significance of the UK/Ireland relationship over many centuries. England’s 42-6 demolition of Ireland, in their final game of the 2003 Six Nations, was possibly the best England performance I ever witnessed. It was certainly a long way better than England’s tepid win over Italy in 2008 that made me stamp round the commentary box, swearing off-mic, reducing Eddie to fits of giggles.
It is strange feeling now to go to venues like Twickenham, Murrayfield, the Principality and the Stade de France and know what it is like to sit in the vantage points of the commentary box. To know what lifts and what stairs the commentary teams take to what is usually the best vantage point in the house. Although I sit as one of thousands of spectators, I always have a certain memory jump into my mind before kick-off.
Looking back, I think that for the middle part of my co-commentary career I took too personal a line on criticising officials. It is right to give a contrary opinion on decisions, but ad hominem comments have consequences for officials, without which, rugby has no game. One of the reasons I qualified as a referee was to understand the limits of what they could, and could not, see during a game. This brought home the difficulty of refereeing a hugely complex game, which is substantially more difficult when it is played at the lightning pace of elite rugby and by players who will push every advantage they can and at every opportunity. However, it also confirmed that referees could easily spot things like not-straight feeds at the scrum, something they have consistently and disingenuously claimed is impossible. I will remain frustrated that my attempts to get referees to enforce the straight feed law have failed.
For those who come after me I can only say that as rugby gets more complicated, slipping into jargon should be avoided. Each generation’s rugby terms differ – the slide defence used to be called the drift, and the blitz defence was called the rush. This is particularly when it comes to international rugby. It is important to remember that more than half the audience do not know most of the laws or technicalities and even if you risk boring those who think they know everything, you should err on helping the uninitiated.
Moore took great enjoyment from seeing the Red Roses win the World Cup last year - Andrew Matthews/PA
Having been a supporter of women’s rugby since 1991, it was tremendous to co-commentate on England’s recent World Cup win and it is delightfully appropriate for my final game to see them take on France for a record-breaking fifth consecutive Grand Slam. It has been an honour and a pleasure to be allowed into many nations’ front rooms, clubhouses and bars over many years. Thank you for memories and if you didn’t like me, well, you can’t please everybody.
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